LinguaWhat is he like? What is she like?
| Masculine | Feminine | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| طَوِيل | طَوِيلَة | tall |
| قَصِير | قَصِيرَة | short |
| شَابّ | شَابَّة | young (person) |
| لَطِيف | لَطِيفَة | kind, nice |
| ذَكِيّ | ذَكِيَّة | clever |
| مَرِح | مَرِحَة | cheerful |
| هَادِئ | هَادِئَة | calm, quiet |
As you know, the adjective follows the person: add ة for a woman – أَخِي طَوِيلٌ, أُخْتِي طَوِيلَةٌ. To say “old” about a person politely, Arabic says “big in age”: كَبِيرٌ فِي السِّنِّ (kabīrun fi s-sinn), for a woman كَبِيرَةٌ فِي السِّنِّ.
جَدَّتِي كَبِيرَةٌ فِي السِّنِّ، هِيَ هَادِئَةٌ.My grandmother is elderly; she is calm.
Hair and eyes: شَعْرُهُ أَسْوَدُ – “his hair is black”; عُيُونُهَا خَضْرَاءُ – “her eyes are green”. عُيُون is a plural, and with it the colour takes a feminine form – learn this phrase as a whole.
Age: كَمْ عُمْرُكَ؟ (kam ʿumruka?) – “how old are you?”, literally “how much is your age?”; to a woman كَمْ عُمْرُكِ؟. The answer uses digits: عُمْرِي ٢٥ سَنَةً – “I am 25 years old”.
كَمْ عُمْرُ أَخِيكَ؟ – عُمْرُهُ ١٨ سَنَةً.How old is your brother? – He is 18.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| طَوِيل | tall; long | سَمِيرٌ طَوِيلٌ. Samir is tall. |
| قَصِير | short | الدَّرْسُ قَصِيرٌ. The lesson is short. |
| شَابّ | young man; young | خَالِي شَابٌّ مَرِحٌ. My uncle is a cheerful young man. |
| كَبِير | big; old (of a person) | الْكِتَابُ كَبِيرٌ. The book is big. |
| لَطِيف | kind, nice | الْمُدِيرُ لَطِيفٌ. The manager is nice. |
| ذَكِيّ | clever, intelligent | بِنْتُهُ ذَكِيَّةٌ. His daughter is clever. |
| مَرِح | cheerful, fun | هِيَ مَرِحَةٌ. She is cheerful. |
| هَادِئ | calm, quiet | الطِّفْلُ هَادِئٌ. The child is quiet. |
| شَعْر | hair | شَعْرُ أُمِّي قَصِيرٌ. My mother’s hair is short. |
| عُيُون | eyes | عُيُونُهُ زَرْقَاءُ. His eyes are blue. |
| عُمْر | age | عُمْرُ جَدِّي ٨٠ سَنَةً. My grandfather is 80 years old. |
| سَنَة | year | سَنَةٌ جَدِيدَةٌ a new year |
| كَمْ | how much, how many | كَمْ عُمْرُ أُخْتِكَ؟ How old is your sister? |
Exercises
This lesson has 11 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 4
- fill the gap: 2
- match the pairs: 1
- build the sentence: 1
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Which word means “clever, intelligent”?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.